


Someone Like You

by Eienvine



Category: The Good Cop (TV)
Genre: F/M, Humor, I hope, josh groban - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-20
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-08-04 22:12:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16355240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eienvine/pseuds/Eienvine
Summary: Cora has a new celebrity crush. Burl makes an interesting observation. Now complete.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Not quite crackfic, but definitely crackier than my usual.

. . . . . .

“Diahann Carroll.”

Cora blinks. “Who?”

“Who?” repeats Burl, sounding disgusted. “You kids today don’t know nothin’. Diahann Carroll? The actress? _Claudine_? _Julia_?”

And now she’s really confused. “Are these more actresses?”

Burl just shakes his head and mutters, “Kids today.”

And Cora grins. Stakeouts with Burl are the worst because if the perp runs, she alone is responsible for catching him. But stakeouts with Burl are also the best because, well, Burl.

Someone matching the perp’s description comes out the restaurant door, but on closer inspection, it’s not him. So Burl leans back in the driver’s seat with a sigh. “All right, how about you?”

“Me?”

“Who’s your celebrity crush? I told you mine.”

“You know, if you’d asked when I was in junior high, I’da had a list a mile long.”

Burl snorts.

“But these days . . .” She considers a moment, but there’s really only one answer she could give right now. “There’s this singer I’ve gotten into in the last couple months. Josh Groban. Not my usual style of music, but he’s got a gorgeous voice.” She shrugs. “What can I say? I’m a sucker for musical talent. Plus I read his Twitter sometimes. He’s hysterical.”

“Hmm,” says Burl. “Cute?”

“Yeah,” she says. “Like, not super obviously hot, but there’s definitely something about him. Although, I’ve really only seen his album covers and his picture on Spotify.”

“Can I see?” asks Burl, which is a testament to how boring this stakeout is.

So she digs around for her phone and pulls up Spotify. Josh Groban is at the top of her search history, so it’s easy to navigate to his page.

“Huh,” says Burl when she hands him the phone. “This him?”

“That’s him,” she agrees, and then she feels a little silly. “I’m not, like, serious about this. I don’t get real hung up on celebrities like I used to. I just think he’s attractive. And talented.”

“Huh,” Burl says again. “You got any other pictures of him?”

“You can see his album covers below,” she says, and reaches over to scroll. “His face is on most of them.”

“He wear glasses in any of these?”

That’s a weird question. “Um, I think he might on the most recent album cover? But he’s turned to the side so you can’t really see him. But no, not really.”

Burl glances over at her, and then, with the awkwardness that comes of not quite understanding modern technology, manages to open her web browser and navigate to Google Images.

“Spell his name for me.”

Baffled, she obliges, and waits while he types it into the search bar and looks at the results.

“You think this guy’s attractive?”

She nods.

“Like, really attractive? Like, you’d date a guy with this face?”

“I mean, if he asked and he was, you know, nice. And good company. But yeah, he’s not my usual type, physically, but I think he’s super attractive. In, like, a sweet way.”

“Huh,” says Burl again. “One question for you, then.”

“Okay.”

“Have you noticed this guy looks exactly like TJ?”

And Cora’s heart stops for a second. “What?” she manages after a moment.

“You heard me,” he says, and hands her the phone. “When he’s got glasses, this boy of yours looks exactly like TJ.”

Cora grabs the phone from him, eager to prove him wrong. But . . . she can’t. She’s looking at a whole array of pictures of Josh Groban’s face. And in a lot of pictures his hair is a little long, or he’s got a beard, or he’s not wearing glasses, but there’s enough of him clean-shaven or short-haired or bespectacled for her to build a composite in her head.

And . . .

Josh Groban looks exactly like TJ.

How did she not notice this?

(Or did she notice it?)

In the seat next to her, Burl is chuckling to himself as he takes a sip of his drink. “So, you know, if you’re looking for a nice guy with that face, you don’t have to look far.”

Cora stares at him, then she turns and looks determinedly out the passenger’s side window.

Burl is still chuckling.

It’s going to be a long stakeout.

. . . . . .


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I did it: I wrote another chapter of this, because Burl blabbing to TJ was too good an image to ignore. :) Still a little worried that Burl's a bit of a jerk here, but whatever, I think it's funny. Many thanks to CallistoNicol for beta reading and encouragement.

. . . . . .

“Mom and Dad are fighting again,” Ryan says somberly as he sits down next to Burl in the break room.

“Mom and Dad?” Burl repeats, and looks over his shoulder to the center of the squad room, where TJ and Cora are having a very loud argument. “If you think they’re the mom and dad of this group, what does that make me?”

Ryan examines him a long moment. “The great-grandpa?”

Burl’s response is a very expressive and eloquent look, but it doesn’t seem to register with Ryan, who’s busily opening his yogurt.

“Kids today,” Burl mutters.

“Do you feel like those two have been fighting more lately?” asks Ryan after a moment, his expression serious.

“Probably,” is Burl’s non-committal answer. Truth is he agrees with the kid, and he even has a suspicion as to why. It was only three weeks ago that Cora told Burl that her celebrity crush was some singer who, though she’d not consciously noticed it, looks exactly like TJ. And ever since Burl pointed out the obvious, Cora’s been on edge when she’s with TJ.

And Burl gets it. He’s no stranger to romance; after all, he’s been married three times (though to only two different women). So, sure, he knows what it’s like to feel something, and to be upset with yourself for feeling it. He doesn’t completely understand why her instinctive response to her discomfort is to pick more fights with TJ, but that’s Cora for you; picking fights is kind of her default setting. She’s probably trying desperately to make things go back to normal—which, for them, looks like lots of banter and teasing. Only in her discomfort she’s taking it all too far.

“Doesn’t it worry you?” Ryan demands. “What if they break up? Or, you know, whatever you call it when cops don’t want to work together anymore?”

The kid really is a tender little heart; Burl would never admit it but he has a soft spot for the little weirdo. So he reassures him, “I would talk to them if I thought there was a real problem.”

“So why not talk to them now?”

Burl shrugs. “Because I don’t mind them fighting.”

“That’s . . . weird.”

“Let me let you in on a little secret.” Burl gestures for Ryan to lean in closer. “When TJ and Cora are in a fight, they both want to avoid having to work together. So they each go off to do their own thing. Which means that between them, all the fieldwork gets done and I don’t have to leave my desk. But when they’re getting along and working together, I have to go out in the field more.” He takes a bite of his sandwich for emphasis. “Them fighting is good for me.”

“Seriously?” Ryan demands.

“You know me: I prefer not to move more than I have to.” Burl shrugs. “Here’s one way to make sure of that.”

“How do you still have a job?”

And Burl is forced to admit, “That’s a good question.”

Ryan glances over and TJ and Cora again, and his worried expression smooths out. “No, look! I think they’re friends again.”

Burl looks over to see that the two have indeed stopped fighting; their expressions and postures are apologetic and conciliatory. And they smile a little at each other as they walk together into the break room.

So much for avoiding field work.

But Ryan looks pleased. “Glad you two stopped fighting,” he says, and lifts his wrist. “My friend invented this watch that monitors stress levels, and it’s been buzzing like crazy.”

“Sorry,” says Cora. "We'll try not to do it again." She shoots a glance at TJ, her expression warm.

“Look, we need to talk about this soccer player case,” says TJ. “I was thinking, Cora and I go talk to the rest of the team, and Burl, take some uniforms to the university library and see about searching for that lost earring. If we can find it, that may be the key to cracking this case.”

“In the library?” Burl repeats. “In the whole library?” He has a vision of himself having to check every nook and cranny for this earring. And libraries have nothing but nooks and crannies—hundreds and thousands of shelves, each with hundreds and thousands of books.

“At least it doesn’t require running,” TJ points out, and Cora chuckles at the joke. And this is not how things are meant to be: the two of them real close and friendly and forcing Burl to do more field work.

Drastic measures must be taken.

“Can I ask you a question first?” he asks as he pulls out his phone and opens the web browser. “I need some new music to listen to. Cora, what’s the name of that singer that you like? Your celebrity crush? Who you thought was ‘super attractive’?”

Cora’s face goes white.

The name is Josh Groban, of course; Burl’s got a good memory for details. It’s what makes him a good detective. He pulls up the guy’s Google Images search results page.

“Oh, here he is. Sure is a good-looking guy. Or at least Cora thinks so. What do you think?” And he hands his phone to TJ, as Cora makes an ineffectual swipe for it. But she’s too far away, on the other side of the table, and she’s too late to stop TJ looking at it.

TJ’s eyes grow wider and wider as he pages through the image search results, and beside him Cora looks murderous. To TJ's credit, he figures it out well before Cora ever did; those brains are why he made lieutenant so young.

He stares at the phone, then up at Cora’s reddening face, then the phone, then Cora. “But . . . this guy looks like me.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Burl agrees, while Cora tries to force her expression into something more casual.

“Does he?” she asks airily, and it’d be a lot more convincing if her eyes weren’t still so wide.

And now TJ’s staring at Cora. “He looks exactly like me. You really think he’s . . . ‘super attractive’?”

But now Cora won’t look at him, which Burl thinks is a shame; she might have seen the pleased smile starting to steal across his face, and maybe it would’ve led to a productive conversations about their feelings for once.

“You know what?” she says loudly. “I think you can handle the soccer team interviews by yourself. Why don’t I go to the library instead? Burl can stay here and update the captain.”

And she practically runs from the room. TJ watches her go with a light in his eyes that Burl’s never seen there before. “Umm . . . yeah, what she said,” he says finally, and hands Burl back his phone, and sort of drifts out of the room in a daze.

And Burl smirks and watches him go.

“You’re kind of a mean great-grandpa,” Ryan observes.

“Great-grandpas are allowed to say whatever they want,” Burl says. “Privilege of being old. Besides, you see the look on his face? He sure doesn’t think I’m mean.”

“What about Cora?”

“She’ll thank me one day,” he says dismissively. “Twenty bucks says I’m telling this story at their wedding inside of a few years.”

And he stands up and goes to see to his well-earned desk work.

. . . . . .


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, now I'm done with this absurd saga about Cora's crush on Josh Groban. :)

. . . . . .

“It was wildly unprofessional.”

“It was just a joke!”

“It was an infraction.”

“I swear, Caruso, you say that one more time—”

“Is this going to last long?” Burl cuts in drily. “Because if it is, I’m going to have to spend my break going to the far vending machine, just to get away from your bickering, and you know I don’t like going all the way to the far vending machine.”

Cora just shoots him a dirty look. It’s his fault things have been so weird between them lately; he’s the one who told TJ about her attraction to Josh Groban. AKA TJ’s doppelganger.

“We weren’t bickering,” says TJ. “I was just informing her that her behavior at the modeling agency was unprofessional, and letting her know, _as her superior_ —”

“You just love bringing that up, don’t you?” she butts in, and they’re off again.

Burl rolls his eyes and sighs, and Cora can see other cops in the squad room looking similarly irritated. She can’t blame them, really; she and TJ have always bickered a little, but somehow in recent weeks it’s gotten so much worse.

It’s just . . .

She likes needling him. It feels good, feels normal. So she’s been doing it more lately, because she needs some normal in her relationship with TJ. Because lately, it’s just . . .

It’s just that ever since Burl pointed out that TJ looks exactly like Josh Groban, things have been weird, okay? She is not accustomed to finding TJ attractive (or at least admitting it to herself), but now that it’s been pointed out to her, she can’t think of much else when she’s with him. And now that she’s thinking about it so much, she kind of wishes . . .

And thanks to Burl, TJ now knows she finds Josh Groban attractive, and therefore finds TJ Caruso attractive. And she normally would have no problem having a guy know she thinks he’s hot, but this is not just any guy; it’s her boss. And it’s not just any boss; it’s TJ Caruso. It’s TJ “That’s An Infraction” “Just A Ginger Ale Please” “If You Break One Rule They All Break” Caruso. TJ, who would never consider dating a subordinate. And worst of all, TJ with whom she has sort of a complicated history, as relates to dating, because of Warren.

So her brilliant response to all this—to the attraction, and to these alarming new feelings—is to needle him, more than she ever did in the past. Because then maybe he’ll never guess at this new truth in her heart, and she’ll never know the embarrassment of being turned down by the NYPD’s least favorite choir boy.

Hence the bickering.

Which is apparently getting on Burl’s nerves more than usual, because after a few moments of it, he breaks in again. “All right, stop. You two, in TJ’s office, now.”

Cora meekly follows his instructions, feeling like she’s being scolded by a teacher.

Burl shuts the door, sealing their conversation away from prying ears. “All right,” he says, “what’s going on this time?”

“What’s going on,” says TJ, “is that lately Cora has been going out of her way to undermine my authority, especially out in public. It’s really not helping us get our jobs done, and it’s . . .” He trails off, looking out toward the squad room, and Cora and Burl both lean in.

“It’s?” Burl prompts.

TJ’s lips tighten. “Humiliating,” he finishes without looking at them, and Cora’s heart plummets. She didn’t mean to go that far, and she’s working out how to respond when he turns back to them adds, “Honestly, this partnership is becoming dysfunctional. Maybe it’s not going to work out.”

And now her heart is in her shoes.

“You think it’s that bad?” Burl asks.

“It might be.”

Burl looks at TJ a long moment, then says decisively, “All right, get out.”

TJ blinks. “Excuse me?”

“I need the room. I need to talk to Cora.”

“It’s my office!”

“And weren’t you just telling me you have to go down to the evidence room? Here’s your chance.”

TJ looks at him, and then at Cora, and then leaves, shaking his head. When the door is shut behind him, Burl looks at Cora. “What on earth do you think you’re doing?”

“Nothing,” says Cora, who is usually a better liar than this.

“Try again, only sound convincing this time,” says Burl drily. “Why are you doing this? Driving away the lieutenant who decided to give a newbie a spot on his elite squad? Not a great career move. And not a great way to treat someone who’s always been kind to you. Not to mention, someone who’s saved your life a time or two.”

“I saved his life one time,” she points out. “Twice if you count the snake.” But she quickly deflates under Burl’s unimpressed gaze. “I know,” she says quietly. “Everything you’re about to say to me, I know.”

“I doubt it,” says Burl. “Because I’m about to say, ‘Why don’t you just tell him you have feelings for him?’”

That does surprise her, and it takes her too long to come up with a casual reply. “What makes you think I have feelings for him?”

“You’re usually a better liar than this.”

She sighs. “I know.”

“I’m right, aren’t I? That’s why you’ve been on edge around him lately?”

She could deny again, but apparently Burl is picking up on her lying. So she just drops her face into her hands.

“That’s what I thought,” he says, a little smug. “So why don’t you just tell him? Put us all out of our misery?”

She lifts her head to glare at him. “This misery is your doing,” she points out. “You’re the one who just had to tell TJ that I think he’s attractive.”

“Technically, I told him you think Josh Groban’s attractive. And you’ll thank me for that someday.”

“Doubtful.”

“So,” he repeats, “why don’t you just tell him how you feel?”

She thinks of prevaricating again, but clearly Burl already knows the truth. And it’d be nice to talk to someone about it. So she says, “You know why. It’s TJ. He’d never date someone he has authority over. It’d be an infraction.”

“Possible,” Burl agrees. “But maybe you can think of a way around it. Inform HR it’s consensual. Make Delghetty do your evaluations. That kind of thing.”

“ . . . or TJ tells me it’s an infraction and we never speak to each other again.”

“I mean, you’re on your way there now,” Burl says reasonably.

“Why does this matter so much to you?” Cora demands. “Two weeks ago you’re blabbing to TJ about Josh Groban and making me freak out, this week you’re playing relationship counselor.”

Burl shrugs. “I don’t mind you fighting when it benefits me. But I do mind when it starts making work this tense. If I wanted shouting and bickering, I could’ve stayed home.”

That doesn’t quite ring true to Cora, and she fixes him with a skeptical look.

“The noise level’s giving me a headache.”

Still she just looks at him.

“Fine,” he admits finally. “I don’t like seeing TJ unhappy. Or you. Not for this long.”

She’s still mad at Burl for his part in all this, but she’s not insensible of the compliment in that remark. Burl doesn’t like many people. Not enough to do something about it.

Still, she can’t agree with him. “TJ would never go for it.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I can make an educated guess,” she says firmly. “And then things would be so weird around here. Especially after all that awful stuff I said when I was with Warren. It’d just feel weird to expect him to be okay with me trying to start something.”

Burl fixes her with a look. “Can you honestly say you are certain TJ would react badly? Make things weird between you?”

She’s 85% sure. But no, she’s not entirely certain. And Burl must see that in her eyes. “All right,” he sighs. “I’m going to give you some advice. I’ve made a lot of dumb mistakes in my life: things I regret, things I wish I hadn’t done. But I deal with those regrets all right. You know what keeps me up at night? The things I didn’t do. The things I always wonder about. Those’ll lodge in the back of your brain for the rest of your life. Drive you crazy eventually. Take it from someone who’s been around: better not to always wonder.”

He fixes her with a serious look, and then he leaves. And Cora is left alone in TJ’s office, where she looks at the shut door and thinks for a long, long time.

This is probably the worst idea ever.

But eventually she thinks: _but . . . what if it isn’t?_

It’s been a long time since she dated someone that she could genuinely deem A Good Guy. She dates guys because they’re hot and/or exciting and/or cool and/or fascinating, and so far all that’s gotten her is two broken engagements, one annulment, and a murder attempt. So now she’s thinking, she could really go for a guy who’s kind and respectful and hard-working and trustworthy, even if he’s maybe not the most exciting person in the world. Plus, as has been made embarrassingly clear to everyone on the team, apparently she does think TJ’s hot.

And eventually she decides that Burl’s right: if she has to spend the rest of her working life close to TJ, always wondering about what might have been, it’ll drive her crazy.

So she makes a decision and heads down to the evidence room to find TJ.

He’s coming out of the elevator just as she walks up to it, and his face is so somber when he sees her, and she’s mad at herself all over again because TJ always used to be glad to see her. “I need to talk to you,” she says without preamble. “Can we . . . go somewhere?” Too many witnesses in a police station.

TJ looks at her a moment, then glances at his watch. “It’s about time to take my lunch break,” he offers, and hits the button to reopen the elevator doors.

They ride down to street level in silence, and walk around the corner to where there’s a park with a few walking paths. The March day is brisk but bright, and the buds are starting to appear on the trees.

They walk for a moment, TJ glancing at Cora occasionally but clearly waiting for her to take the first step; she finally gathers her words and comes to a stop. TJ stops as well and turns to face her.

“First thing,” she says fervently, “I am so sorry. I have been a jerk lately. But I never meant to humiliate you, or to make it so we can’t work together. This team is the best thing in my life, and I don’t want to lose it. And yeah, I mean because it’s an amazing job, but also because you guys are the most important people in the world to me.” She takes a breath, drawing strength from the fact that TJ’s expression is softening. “So, will you give me a chance to prove I can stop picking fights and giving you crap in public?”

“Does this mean you’re going to keep giving me crap in private?” he teases gently, then says, “Of course, Cora. We’ve all done things we regret, things we wish people would give us a second chance with.”

She doubts he’s done that many things he regrets, but she appreciates his kindness. “Thank you,” she says, and then she keeps walking because suddenly looking right at him feels really awkward.

He falls into step beside her easily enough, but as they walk in silence, she sees him look back several times in the direction of the police station, which they are getting farther from with every step. “So is there a second thing?” he asks finally.

“Yep,” she says promptly. “I am just trying to work myself up to saying it.”

That earns his silence for a little while longer, until she’s finally convinced herself to say, “The second thing is, I think you should know why I’ve been so . . . irritable lately.”

“Okay,” he says slowly.

She keeps walking, because it keeps them side by side instead of face to face, and gives her an excuse not to look at him. “Burl’s right,” she blurts out. “I do find Josh Groban attractive, which, as he pointed out, means that I find you attractive, and that’s why I’ve been so weird lately; I didn’t know what to do about that.”

She steals a quick glance at him and sees he looks a little pleased. And that gives her courage to go on. “Because the more I think about it, the more I think maybe the reason I was so drawn to him in the first place is that he subconsciously reminded me of you. I mean, that and his voice, obviously. Anyway, once I admitted all this to myself, I realized that maybe I actually . . . I might kind of . . .”

TJ comes to an abrupt stop, and she stops as well and turns to look at him. His face is showing wide-eyed surprise; she can’t tell if it’s the good kind or the bad kind.

But she forces herself to speak anyway. “So, you wanna go grab coffee some time? Like . . . like a date?” And then she takes refuge in humor. “I’d ask you out for drinks, but then we’d have to make sure we found somewhere with ginger ale _and_ lots of straws.”

TJ is still just staring. “That’s an infraction.”

She fights the urge to crack a joke, to look at her feet, to walk away. Instead she forces herself to meet his gaze steadily. “I know.”

“But you want to—with me?”

The corner of her mouth turns up in an involuntary smile. “Yeah.”

He stares a moment longer, long enough for her to start cursing Burl for his advice and herself for following it. And then he blurts out, “Yes.”

Her heart is instantly weightless. “Yes?”

“I’d love to get coffee with you,” he clarifies, suddenly all fidgety shyness.

She can feel her grin growing. “Even though it’s an infraction?”

He’s clearly still not completely comfortable with that aspect of it, but he says, “We’ll figure something out.”

And Cora is surprised to find herself laughing, and the sound drives away tension she didn’t even realize she’s been holding in her shoulders for who knows how long. “Good,” she says brightly. “Umm, after work tonight?”

“Uh, yeah, I’m free.”

And now she’s grinning so wide that she’s getting embarrassed, so she starts walking again, this time back toward the police station.

“I do have to warn you about something,” TJ says as he falls into step beside her.

Her brow furrows. “Okay.”

“I can’t sing like Josh Groban.”

She laughs. “So you’ve been listening to him?”

“I had to,” says he reasonably. “The guy’s got my face. But I definitely don’t have his pipes.”

“That’s okay,” says Cora, and steals a glance over at TJ, who’s smiling at her. “I like you anyway.”

. . . . . .

fin

**Author's Note:**

> About me: I'd never listened to Josh Groban before I watched the Good Cop, other than catching a song on the radio every now and then. (Turns out there's a reason my sisters love him so much! Who knew?) Now, thanks to this story, I have spent a weird amount of time studying the Google Images search results for his name.


End file.
